Unit 1: Introduction

to “Physical Education” and “Physical Fitness”

1.1 Definition of the Physical Education

What is Physical Education?

-an educational course related to maintaining the human body through physical exercises.

Objectives of Physical Education?

-encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting to promote health.
(all individuals, especially students must engage to this physical activity to improve lifestyle while still
young for them to grow healthy and strong while studying)

1.2 Concept of Physical Fitness

-Physical fitness is the ability of an individual to perform day to day activities without fatigue. It involves
several aspects, including cardiovascular ability, muscular strength, and flexibility. Proper diet and sleep
can help someone attain physical fitness, and physical fitness improves overall physical health.

-Physical fitness refers to maximum functional capacity of all system of the body.

1.3 Terminologies

Agility – Agility is the ability to change the direction of the body in an efficient and effective manner.

(Students can be encouraged to develop their agility through travelling in large and small spaces in
gymnastics and dance and in taking part in team games, fitness and other activities involving directional
changes.)

Analyze – To examine in detail in order to discover meaning and/or essential features; to break down
into components; to examine the nature or structure of something, especially by separating it into its
parts, in order to understand or explain it.

(Students should be able to use a variety of methods to analyze their own and others’ performances in a
range of different activities.)

Applying – To put into action.

(Students should be given opportunities to practice and apply their learning in different activities. This
provides an opportunity to revisit previous as well as further develop learning. Links between activities
should also be made to highlight and enable Students’ transference of skills.)

Balance – The ability to maintain equilibrium when stationary or moving (not to fall over) through the
coordinated actions of our sensory functions (eyes, ears and the proprioceptive organs in our joints).

Static Balance – The ability to retain the center of mass above the base of support in a stationary
position.

Dynamic Balance – The ability to maintain balance with body movement.

(Students should be able to balance on two feet before attempting to balance on one foot, on other
parts of the body or inverted.)
Broad Range of Opportunities – Not limited or narrow; of extensive range or scope: a broad range of
interests; of broad appeal.

(Students should be offered a variety of age appropriate differentiated physical activities to develop and
extend their agility, balance, coordination, fitness and motor skills, and to accommodate their different
strengths, interests and needs.)

Challenge – Something that by its nature or character requires special effort, is demanding.

Intellectual challenge – Where the demand relates to thinking in an intelligent way and understanding,
especially difficult or complicated concepts or ideas.

(Intellectual challenge is provided by outdoor education. This should be viewed in the context of setting
Students mental challenges in which they have to overcome and solve problems.)

Physical challenge – Where the demand relates to physical performance, for example, performing a
difficult or complex skill or task. A physical challenge might involve endurance-related tasks.

Competent – Having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge and experience. (Adaptation)

(Within physical education, terms such as fluent, controlled, aesthetically pleasing or with very few
errors could be used to describe what a competent performance looks like.)

Competence – The ability to do something successfully or efficiently.

(Students should develop competence in the fundamental movement skills to enable them to develop
competence across the range of activities within the physical education curriculum.)

Competitive sport – Competition refers to a contest for some prize, honor or advantage.; competitive
sport is usually played or participated in between two or more persons or teams striving for the
common goal of winning.

(Although Students enjoy a competitive element in activities, the extent and type of competition needs
to be age appropriate. Students can take part in activities where they compete against their personal
bests, which may be rewarded with positive feedback and praise. Students can also take part in simple
games in groups of 2-4, where attitude and motivation as well as performance are acknowledged.)

(Students should also be encouraged to use competition as a way of peer and self-assessment.)

Complex – So complicated or intricate as to be hard to understand or deal with; or in the physical

education context, to be hard to perform.

(Tactics, strategies or techniques and skills might be complex and Students should be encouraged to
develop these to a more advanced level across a variety of physical activities.)

Confident – To be certain about something or feeling sure of oneself and one’s abilities.

(To promote confidence, Students should be appropriately challenged and praised for working to the
best of their ability and making progress. In turn, this should motivate and encourage them to have a go
and try new things. It is also important Students feel confident in their teacher’s knowledge and ability
to support their learning.)
Control – To exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command.

(Students from a young age should be encouraged to focus on controlling their movements. When
travelling in a space pupils’ attention should be drawn to spatial awareness and moving with control.
When performing a sequence or balance, good control through sound body tension should be an
expectation and when stopping, pupils should be taught to hold still.)

Cooperative physical activities – Cooperation is a behavior demonstrated by individuals working

together toward shared goals.

(In many activities in physical education, Students must learn to work cooperatively as well as have a
desire to defeat opponents. Generally, co-operation requires a greater degree of maturation and
intellectual development than competition.)

Co-ordination – The ability to control the movement of the body in co-operation with the body’s sensory
functions, e.g. catching a ball

Core movement – The competency in motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform a variety
of physical activities.

There are a number of different types of skills. Examples:

 Cognitive – or intellectual skills that require thought processes

 Perceptual – involving interpretation of presented information
 Motor – involving movement and muscle control
 Perceptual motor – involving the thought, interpretation and movement skills

(Pupils will be at different levels in their development of core movement skills. Opportunities to develop
and assess pupils’ core movement skills should be the foundation to physical education.)

Demanding – Calling for intensive effort or attention; in the physical education context, intensive
physical effort (i.e. physically demanding).

Effectiveness – Adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.

Excel – Deriving from the word excellent, to do very well or be exceptionally good at or proficient in an
activity

(Students should work on developing their fundamental movement skills Students who are excelling
would perform movement with good balance, coordination and control. Students can also excel in their
knowledge and understanding of concepts, terms or different activities, or in their confidence, attitude
and motivation towards physical activity.)

Expert

Noun – A person who has special skill or knowledge; a person who is a specialist authority in some
particular field.

Adjective – Possessing specialist skill or knowledge; skillful or skilled.

Fairness and respect – Fairness and respect within physical education can be demonstrated and
developed as follows, by:

Fairness

 Taking turns
 Sharing equipment and apparatus
 Following rules and making up rules for games
 Recognizing and accommodating the different abilities of their peers
 Sharing ideas and knowledge
 Accepting anyone can take part regardless of their race, religion, gender or sex.

Respect

 Caring for equipment and apparatus

 Keeping themselves and others safe i.e. when travelling in a space, moving equipment
 Celebrating others’ successes, including of opponents
 Listening to teachers’ instructions
 Listening and responding to others’ ideas
 Understanding everyone has a right to take part regardless of ability
 Recognizing others’ contributions.
 Fitness – There are two main types of fitness, health-related and skill-related. In the NCPE, the
term is used to refer to health-related fitness. This comprises five components (cardiovascular
endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition).

Personal fitness – Personal fitness is the composite level of these five components that an individual
possesses at any point in time.

(Students should know and understand their own levels of personal fitness, and how and through which
activities they can develop their fitness.)

Flexibility – Flexibility, mobility and suppleness all refer to the range of limb movement around joints.

(In activities such as gymnastics and athletics pupils can draw on and develop their flexibility using the
full range of movement in controlled, focused as well as in dynamic ways. Where possible, skills and
positions demanding flexibility are best practiced and refined statically (i.e. still) first, before being
performed dynamically (i.e. moving)).

Movement patterns in dance – Movement composed of the elements of dance in a regular

arrangement, configuration or design; a dance pattern.

Physically demanding activities - Physical activities that challenge an individual to move on from their
own baseline level of performance to the next step.

(For some Students this could be holding a simple balance and for others it may be improving their
stamina, co-ordination, speed or agility.)

Strength – The ability of a muscle or muscle group to overcome a resistance.

(Students can develop strength through taking their own body weight, balancing, climbing, hanging,
swinging, jumping, skipping, running, or swimming etc.)

Sustained – To keep up or keep going; as an action or process; in the physical education context to keep
up/maintain the behavior of physical activity. (maintaining)

(Ofsted (2013) suggests ‘Teachers should improve Students’ fitness by keeping them physically active
throughout all lessons and engaging them in regular, high intensity vigorous activity for sustained
periods of time.’ It should be noted though that, despite high intensity, vigorous activity having
benefits, it may not be appropriate for all pupils and sustained physical activity of any intensity is still
beneficial.)

Tactic – The particular method used or selected to achieve something. (Planning)

Technique – A technique is the way of performing a skill in a certain task.

Players select different techniques for performing skills on the basis of:

 Their personal preference – which technique suits their level of skill or confidence
 The effectiveness of the technique – which technique gives them the most success
 The situation – which technique is best at a given time and place, and is within the rules.

Strategy - The intended or chosen plan to achieve a particular purpose; for example, in the physical
education context, the plan to overcome an opponent in a game or to solve a problem in outdoor
education. (Application/Execution of certain tactic).

1.4 Physical Activity and Safety Concerns (31 May 2009)

Physical activity is part of a healthy, balanced lifestyle as it helps individuals to maintain a healthy
weight, is beneficial for bone and muscle health, helps with psychological well-being and reduces the
risk of certain diseases including cancers, heart disease and diabetes. But it is important to be aware of
safety concerns that can be associated with engaging in physical activities.

Cardiovascular risk

It is known that physical activity generally decreases the risk of certain diseases, including heart disease
in individuals, but cardiovascular problems such as a heart attack or arrhythmia are some of the risks
that may arise when taking part in physical activity. While some may feel that the majority of heart
attacks happen to individuals during exercise, approximately 90% of all heart attacks actually occur at
rest and not while exercising.1

For an individual without existing heart disease the risk of a serious heart complication during exercise is
1 in 400,000 – 800,000 hours of exercise, whereas an individual who already has existing heart disease
has an average risk of 1 in every 62,000 hours of exercise.1 In comparison, a person training for 1.5 h on
5 days per week accumulates a total of 11,700 h of exercise over 30 years. This essentially shows that
even individuals who exercise regularly and extensively have a very low risk of serious cardiac events. It
has also been noted that the risk of a heart attack in a sedentary person doing exercise is 50% greater
than that of a person who exercises five times a week, which yet again translates into a very low risk.
Although the risk of a heart complication is small it is always wise to know the warning signs of a heart
attack which include a feeling of discomfort in the chest (which may include pain that radiates to the
arms, back or shoulder areas (“pins and needles”)), heart rhythm abnormalities like palpitations,
skipping or thudding patterns, an unusual breathlessness or shortness of breath, dizziness or light-
headedness.

Joint and mobility risk

Joints of the body, including the knees and ankles, have to bear a lot of stress from movement,
especially in individuals who affected by obesity or are overweight. The body weight of an individual,
along with the activity that they participate in, and the mechanical movement determines the load of
force on a joint.2 For example, running has a greater impact on the joints than biking, and this effect is
compounded by higher body weight.

Muscle weakness is also a factor which can cause joint problems and it has been shown that even small
reductions in body weight can significantly reduce the stress on an overweight individual’s joints.2,3
However, research shows that those healthy individuals who participate in moderate, lower impact
activities (such as walking, swimming, rowing) without previous joint problems do not have an increased
risk of osteoarthritis - a degenerative joint disease - in the knee, however elite athletes who perform in
vigorous activities such as running, squash and tennis, may be at higher risk of developing osteoarthritis
in the knee due to the higher impact of these activities.4

How to play it safe

Physical activity is essential for a healthy body and mind and although there are valid safety concerns,
generally more good than harm comes from engaging in physical activity. Choosing an appropriate
environment for one’s preferred activity contributes to a high safety level and may be guided by the
following lists:

 Physical separation from motor vehicles, such as pavements, walking paths, or bike lanes;
 Neighborhoods with traffic-calming measures that slow down traffic;
 Places to be active that are well-lighted, where other people are present, and that are well-
maintained (no litter, broken windows);
 Shock-absorbing surfaces on playgrounds;
 Well-maintained playing fields and courts without holes or obstacles;
 Padded and anchored goals and goal posts at soccer and football fields.
 Additionally, it is recommended to wear appropriate protective gear and get professional advice
before embarking on an exercise program so that the schedule is tailored to the individual’s
needs and abilities.